Warrant roundup has more firepower

Updated 11:43 pm, Monday, February 18, 2013

Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News

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San Antonio Marshall Sgt. Edward Saucedo stands by his unit installed with license checking cameras, Monday, Feb. 18, 2013. There are four cameras mounted on the emergency light rack that are equipped with infrared lighting.

San Antonio Marshall Sgt. Edward Saucedo stands by his unit installed with license checking cameras, Monday, Feb. 18, 2013. There are four cameras mounted on the emergency light rack that are equipped with

As law enforcement agencies prepare for this year's statewide misdemeanor warrant roundup, one local department will be equipped better than ever to hunt down wanted people.

The San Antonio City Marshal's Office is now outfitted with five more devices — at a cost of $30,000 each — that will allow the officers to randomly scan hundreds of license plates per minute in search of scofflaws.

While the technology isn't new to the small department, the scope of this year's roundup is. The goal is to clear about 250,000 outstanding warrants for Class C misdemeanor offenses, most of which are traffic and city ordinance violations, said Sgt. Edward Saucedo. In 2012, the roundup cleared 26,000 outstanding warrants.

Without the watchful eye of the crime-fighting equipment, known as a license plate recognition system, Saucedo might never know a warrant holder's car when he sees one. Composed of a set of infrared cameras mounted atop a squad car and connected to an on-board computer inside, the system allows him to scan plates as he's zipping down a highway or parked in a busy lot — even after dark.

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That will come in handy during the four-day arrest period starting March 4. During that time, local and state agencies will participate in the Great Texas Warrant Roundup, an annual event focused on those with outstanding warrants for misdemeanor traffic, parking and city ordinance violations who failed to resolve their ticket or case by paying a fine or appearing in court.

For now, anyone with an outstanding warrant has amnesty from being arrested if they pay fines online or in person at two community centers or at Municipal Court until March 1, when the grace period ends.

The city marshal's office, which had been operating with only one license plate reader for the past two years, obtained the five additional devices last year. The readers have become enormously effective tools for the department's 13 officers, Saucedo said.

The system automatically captures images of the license plate numbers of hundreds of parked and moving cars while an on-board computer analyzes the images and looks for matches in a database to see if there are any outstanding warrants associated with the vehicle or if it has been reported stolen.

As an officer cruises down a highway, typically between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, the machine pings each time a vehicle's license plates are scanned. If it returns a hit, the system alerts the officer, who calls a dispatcher to verify that there is a warrant out for the owner.

Then the officer makes an arrest or offers the driver the option of paying his or her fine via credit card on the spot to avoid a trip to jail. But that option is not available if the arrest is made by officers from other area law enforcement agencies.

City marshal's officers once had to search vehicles and homes individually for wanted offenders, wasting hours of legwork. Now, Saucedo said, his office is making about 150 stops a day, adding up to thousands a month.

“I can't see us making anywhere near that without these tools,” Saucedo said. “We're working with six times as many as last year, and we're making that many more returns.”

And, he says, pulling people over saves them from the embarrassment of being arrested at work.

“Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies are increasingly moving toward a 'keep everything, share widely' formula concerning (automatic license plate reader) data,” the ACLU said in a statement on its website. “The biggest problem with ALPR systems is the creation of databases with location information on every motorist who encounters the system, not just those whom the government suspects of criminal activity.”